KEMPER MUSEUM HIRES NEW ASSISTANT CURATOR

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KEMPER MUSEUM HIRES NEW ASSISTANT CURATOR

August 28, 2018

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KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI—August 28, 2018—Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art is excited to be expanding the museum’s full-time curatorial team with the addition of Jade Powers, an art historian and museum educator who most recently served as the Romare Bearden Graduate Museum Fellow at Saint Louis Art Museum, St. Louis, Missouri.

As the 2017–2018 Romare Bearden Graduate Museum Fellow, Powers created the first interpretative gallery guide at the Saint Louis Art Museum to highlight works by African American artists in the museum’s permanent collection, and worked with the curators of prints, drawings, and photographs and modern and contemporary art to research and create text for a recent gift to the institution of eighty-one abstract works of art by African American artists. Her responsibilities also included the implementation of public programs including, If It Wasn’t for the Women, as well as presenting gallery talks, guided tours, and creating a teacher workshop to help teachers add information about abstract art by African American artists to their curriculum.

"Kemper Museum is delighted to welcome Jade Powers as Assistant Curator. Her studies and expertise will bring fresh ideas and new perspectives to our growing list of exhibitions and public programs,” stated Erin Dziedzic, director of curatorial affairs at Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art.

After receiving a bachelor of arts in art history and religious studies at DePauw University (Greencastle, Indiana), Powers earned a master’s degree in religious studies at Indiana University (Bloomington, Indiana) in 2015 with a focus on contemporary Asian art and culture. From 2016–2017, Powers worked at The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis.

“I have studied and taught art for nearly a decade; contributed scholarly research to exhibitions, texts, and catalogues; and leveraged my experiences as an art historian to assist with the implementation of exhibitions — which has given me a broad perspective on diverse researching and teaching techniques,” shared Powers. “I believe that my experience as a museum educator with responsibility for university and museum public programs will allow me to contribute immediately to the visitor experience at Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art.”

At Kemper Museum, Powers will be organizing and assisting with the Museum's 8–12 annual exhibitions which take place throughout the year, along with public programs produced in conjunction with these exhibitions.

Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art is located at 4420 Warwick Boulevard, Kansas City, Missouri, and is open 10:00 a.m.–4:00 p.m., Tuesday and Wednesday; 10:00 a.m.–9:00 p.m., Thursday and Friday; and 10:00 a.m.–4:00 p.m., Saturday and Sunday. All exhibitions and public programs at Kemper Museum are always free. Learn more at kemperart.org.